Moko; Or Maori Tattooing
Wellington, New Zealand: Printed by Dai Nippon Printing Co. for A. H. & A. W. Reed, 1969.
Hardcover. 11 1/2" X 8 7/8". xxi, 216pp, [ii]. Presents nicely in original matching slipcase, with moderate soiling to cloth. Bound in full maroon cloth over bevelled boards, with Maori tattoo design stamped in black to both boards and upper board and spine lettered in gilt. Mild shelfwear to binding, with gentle bumping and rubbing to corners and to head and tail of spine. Binding is firm and sound. Pages are clean and unmarked. A highly presentable 1969 facsimile printing of the 1896 first edition of this important ethnographic study of t moko, the traditional tattooing of the Maori people of New Zealand, by Britist Major-General, artist, and collector of the macabre, the preserved tattooed heads called mokomokai included, Horatio Gordon Robley (1840–1930). Illustrated in over 180 illustrations throughout, most in the author's skilled hand along with many photographic reproductions, including a photograph of Robley's collection of 33 mokomokai.
Contents: Part I.--Moko: How Moko First Became Known to Europeans; Men's Moko; Women's Moko; Moko Processes and Tapu; Patterns and Designs; Operators or Artists in Moko; Mokoed Europeans and Mokoed Visitors to Europe; Moko in Legend and Song; Decadence of Moko; Part II.--Mokomokai: Tradition, History, and Incidents; Methods of Embalming; Traffic in Heads; Mokoed Heads in Museums and Collections; List of Some of the Works Consulted. Very good +. Item #17486
Price: $400.00